The present invention relates in a general way to devices and installations for accommodating living animals, and is particularly concerned with an integrated assembly designed specifically to facilitate cohabitation with house pets, particularly cats and dogs, who normally live under conditions of semi-freedom in the lodgings of their master.
In most countries, and particularly in industrial countries where life is for the most part urban, many people seek to alleviate their solitude or lack of natural environment by way of the company of a cat, a dog, or another familiar house pet. In France, for example, the total number of such house pets is in the millions.
It is known that large numbers of cats and dogs are maintained for the sole pleasure of their masters while being condemned to lonely lives in apartments or homes which can only provide such animals with an environment very different from their natural habitat, since such environments are specifically adapted for human needs in unnatural surroundings.
In practice, the only concessions made in connection with the presence of house pets who permanently reside with their masters consist in putting at the disposition of such house pets simple objects such as mats, cushions or baskets for sleeping, litter boxes, scratch boards, or doors provided with special openings for such animals, and various playthings such as balls or bones made of rubber or plastic, as well as special edible products including tins of cat or dog food, preparations simulating natural foods, the sales volume of which surpasses the sales volume of food for babies or the protein requirements of underdeveloped countries.
In particular, there is at the present time no available equipment especially designed for use by such a house pet in the absence of his master or, on the contrary, for maintaining the private needs of such an animal in the presence of their master.
As a result, such animals are compelled to conform to the life style of their master, which can be irregular and even incompatible with the requirements of the animals themselves. Abandoned to himself, such an animal risks a life of boredom and deterioration, or on the other hand disturbs the peacefulness of his master's lack of occupation. On the other hand, in the presence of unknown individuals and in the absence of any refuge, such animals are likely to get in the way and even to become aggressive.
Finally, the artificial life style imposed on such animals, and in particular the isolation of such animals from companions and the absence of stimulation responding to the natural needs of such animals, such as their instincts for chase or play, are likely to diminish the physical and intellectual capabilities of such animals, as has been demonstrated by numerous experimental studies concerning the influence of the environment on animal behavior.
In summary, the lack of equipment capable of satisfying the needs of house pets living in human habitations is likely to result in unstable animal behavior which deprives the master of the important pleasure resulting from the friendly presence of an animal, with the cohabitation with such an animal even becoming insupportable and as a result leading to improper treatment of the animal and even illegal and immoral abandoning of the animal.